If you happen to be visiting one of our shops this month, take a moment to look at our ‘Boaty’ window designs. This month’s window designs, created by our window designer Kathryn, celebrate everything we love about living by the coast – getting out on the water and getting into the nautical spirit!

The windows display our favourite boating outfits and accessories featuring our signature Seasalt stripes and bold colours, all framed by a backdrop of sailing necessities such as rowing oars and nautical maps.

We’re sure the window outfits will give lots of inspiration if you’re going for the nautical look this summer or if you’re heading to the World Gig Racing Championships, which are taking place on the Isles of Scilly this weekend.

Don’t forget we also have a dedicated Rowing and Boating shop online full of our favourite rowing and sailing style products plus limited edition Pilot gig championships tees and hoodies! So if you want to look the part, look no further!

So this one’s just for the people travelling out to the gig championships on Scilly next weekend (less than a week to go!) … we’re repeating our Facebook competition to send us your best photos of Scilly – what really sums up the weekend for you – for the chance to win a brilliant £30 voucher to spend on whatever you like at Seasalt!

Maybe you’ll have a chance to snap the start line (although if you’re rowing you really should probably be concentrating on the race!), maybe it’s on the tense finish line, maybe it’s the preparation of your oars or your seats, or maybe it’s the (reliably enthusiastic!) celebrations on the Sunday night – the end of another brilliant weekend on Scilly.

Whatever catches your eye, make sure you capture it with your camera or phone camera and send us your pics to our Facebook page for the chance to be entered into the competition. We’ll close the competition on 13th May. Best of luck!

And a short official bit … Sorry, only those photos sent via the Facebook page can be entered. The winner receives a £30 voucher to spend either in our stores or through mail order by contacting customer services on 01326 640372.

Every year the Isles of Scilly hosts an incredible rowing event – The World Pilot Gig Championships. Rowing clubs from across the South West and even as far afield as Holland and the Faroe Islands bring their 6 oared, wooden pilot gigs to the islands for 3 days of racing.

Veterans and super-veterans row first in a long race from St Agnes to St Mary’s. The renowned Flushing and Mylor men’s supervets are the oldest crew in the event yet they compete in all 5 men’s races over the weekend. In 2010 their average age was 70 and oldest rower, Angus, celebrated his 86 birthday!

Sat morning sees the most spectacular races when the whole fleet of around 130 boats race at the same time. The start line is over a mile long and being in the thick of it is an unforgettable experience.

The overall winners are decided through fierce sprint races over Saturday afternoon and Sunday and when the racing is all done festivities begin with a beach barbecue, bands and a great deal of singing.

The singing continues on Monday afternoon as those remaining on the island line the quay to serenade the ferry as it departs.

Local student Amy Sweet got in touch to show us her final piece which she submitted for her GCSE Photography course. Amy’s used some of our Ladies Tall Wellies as part of her garden composition and, knowing our love of the great outdoors, we think it looks very “Seasalt-ey”!

Well done Amy for a great piece of work and we love that Seasalt has given you a bit of inspiration in your work. We’ll be keeping everything crossed for when the GCSE results come out later this summer!

A big thank you to Nicky Scott who sent in this fab pic of one of our jute bags posing by the sea in Australia! It is always lovely to hear from our customers all across the globe and emails like this never fail to put a smile on our faces. We hope our jute bags help to remind you of home when you’re on your travels Nicky!

Nicky emailed us saying:

Hi,

I am a Cornish girl living in Australia and tend to travel a lot with work. Wherever I go, one of my seasalt bags follows. This one was picked to accompany me to Sydney where we relaxed at Cabbage Tree Bay in Manly. It was a beautiful day and much fun was had by all.

Have you spotted our fabulous summer competition yet? You could WIN a £3000 Luxury Cornish holiday to Trelowarren! This is a truly wonderful prize, we’re slightly jealous we can’t enter ourselves!

The prize includes a week’s stay at Trelowarren, a beautiful, historic estate, in one of their luxury self-catering cottages. Also included is a delicious meal at the New Yard Restaurant, indulgent treatments at the Walled Garden Organic Spa and family membership to Trelowarren’s leisure facilities during your stay. This is the perfect Cornish holiday!

The Trelowarren estate includes 1,000 acres of pasture and woodland leading down to the Helford River. Home to the Vyvyan family for 600 years Trelowarren now hosts a variety of luxury self-catering cottages and eco-lodges. There are beautiful gardens to explore, woodland walks and top leisure facilities including a heated pebble-lined outdoor pool, all-weather tennis court, gym and organic spa to help you truly unwind. Making the most of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients, you can also enjoy delicious dining out at Trelowarren’s New Yard Restaurant.

Here at Seasalt we are proud of our coastal heritage and we are also very fond of a good ol’ shanty song!

Sea Shanties are a great way to connect with Britain’s maritime past and many have interesting stories behind them. So as you can imagine, we were delighted to come across a documentary on BBC2 last night called ‘Shanties and Sea Songs with Gareth Malone.’

In the programme, choirmaster Gareth Malone travels across the British Isles meeting devoted shanty singers and gains a fascinating insight into the stories behind the songs. The programme also features the Fishermen’s Friends from Port Isaac in Cornwall who landed a lucrative record deal last year and are famous for bringing Shanties back into the mainstream.

Mad coastal types from across the SW, Wales and Holland will soon be arriving on Scillies for a weekend of sporting action.

Rowers who are still planning to shed those extra few pounds, shave another few seconds off their 2k or tweak their technique – time’s up! At this stage you are where you are; it’s all in the mind from here on out. Time to get focused and get your racing heads on people!

Whatever type of boating you like, if you’re taking to the water this Summer and want to cut a dash, look no further than our new Rowing & Boating Shop. You’ll find it chock full of nautical attire: crop trousers, canvas bags, stripy head bands, deck shoes, wellies…

We’ve partnered up with our friends at the RNLI to launch a NEW range of organic tees and hoodies especially designed by us and inspired by their fantastic work on the beach.

As you probably already know, living and working by the sea is a lot of what’s Seasalt’s about so it’s a great match to work with such a like-minded organisation as the RNLI.

As well as designing this very special range we also want to help them in their fundraising so we’re also promising to make a donation to the RNLI for each item sold from the range. It costs £147.7 million a year to keep their services going so we’re happy to do whatever we can to help!

There are tees and hoodies in bright summer colours for women, men and kids featuring our exclusive Seasalt designs and all, of course, made with our soft organic cotton.

We’re keen to help the RNLI in other ways too so we’re helping to spread their message about beach safety. Take a look at our special page which gives a few pointers on staying safe at the beach and in the sea, and making sure you get the best day out possible!